I find the Shazam app useless on my watch lately. I am in public and I hear a song I like, I open the app only to be greeted by a spinning wheel, or the app would crash. By the time I pull out my phone, the song is over.

I think part of the problem is the developers. They import the paradigm they use on iOS devices to the watch which results in overly complicated apps that loads way too slow.

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No. Developers are required to use the WatchKit API which works like this:

1. Watch app opened on watch
2. Bluetooth connection started to talk to phone
3. Phone application needs to load on phone
4. Once application is running on phone, it then communicates back to watch with what to do
5. Watch then runs commands specified by the phone.

It's not simple at all. There is no such thing as clicking a button on the watch in a 3rd party app and it can just do something. Everything is round tripped back to the phone using Bluetooth.

No. Developers are required to use the WatchKit API which works like this:

1. Watch app opened on watch
2. Bluetooth connection started to talk to phone
3. Phone application needs to load on phone
4. Once application is running on phone, it then communicates back to watch with what to do
5. Watch then runs commands specified by the phone.

It's not simple at all. There is no such thing as clicking a button on the watch in a 3rd party app and it can just do something. Everything is round tripped back to the phone using Bluetooth.

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I know that.....

The problem here is something like hierarchy are not very good on the watch. And too many UI elements makes loading incredibly slow. they are essentially putting in too much features into an app.

If the apps are open and running, yes, the load time is decreased substantially

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Perhaps those wishing to target the watch, will, in the future, find ways to decrease load times for the apps. Its been a while since I tinkered with iOS programming, but they should be able to open a lite version to start operating and then finish loading assets in some fashion for the more polished iPhone operation.

Perhaps those wishing to target the watch, will, in the future, find ways to decrease load times for the apps. Its been a while since I tinkered with iOS programming, but they should be able to open a lite version to start operating and then finish loading assets in some fashion for the more polished iPhone operation.

This is without utilizing the anticipated native app ability.

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It's not up to the developer. A developer can't make their app stay active on a locked phone. iOS decides what apps stay active, and what apps are shut down.

Android developers have full control of android - iOS developers are reliant upon how Apple designs their OS

I've seen reviews say the same thing. Weird, mine take no longer than 3 seconds to open.

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Mine is the same. Even 3rd party apps like Starbucks and Citymapper load rather quickly. I only noticed the watch taking longer to open apps when I'm further away from my phone, likely with a weak bluetooth connection.

Mine is the same. Even 3rd party apps like Starbucks and Citymapper load rather quickly. I only noticed the watch taking longer to open apps when I'm further away from my phone, likely with a weak bluetooth connection.

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For me it's only slow if my phone has barely any service. But that's not the watch's fault.

If the apps are open and running, yes, the load time is decreased substantially

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I experimented with this, but was not able to confirm your results. Instagram took 42 seconds to load even though it was open on the phone. Re-opening it, however, only took seconds thereafter. Not sure what goes on during that first handshake, but it is very slow in pretty much all circumstances that I can see.

It's not up to the developer. A developer can't make their app stay active on a locked phone. iOS decides what apps stay active, and what apps are shut down.

Android developers have full control of android - iOS developers are reliant upon how Apple designs their OS

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I was addressing load times. Certain apps, even from completely closed, start right up quickly. Other apps that start slow on the phone, either are connecting to something online or loading large and numerous UI assets.

I was saying a developer could potentially increase load time by first initiating a small asset UI to get a fast load and then finish loading larger assets to polish out the phone portion of it. This might make access to info from the watch quicker.

Already happening. The Nike Running app updated this week and one of the features was a hugely decreased startup time.

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I knew there was a developer work around for this. It was never much of an issue on the phone, but this new tech has made developers have to think outside the box and design things with a new perspective.

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